HUNTINGTONS at Fairview Presbyterian Church, Glenmoore PA, October 30th
It was Saturday, October 30th, Halloween weekend 1999, and pretty much an average fall night. Well, except for the fact that the Huntingtons were playing a show at a church that is only two minutes from my house. I had only heard of one other show put on by this church, and I can honestly say that I did not know what to expect. I pretty much live in the middle of nowhere and I was a little skeptical that anyone would even be able to find Fairview Presbyterian Church in little old Glenmoore, PA.
When I arrived at the show, I found that there were actually a decent number of kids there, considering the location and all. I didn't count everyone, but my guess would be that somewhere around 50 kids were there. Two local bands that I had never heard of before opened up the show. A band called Up To 11 was playing when I arrived. They were very young and had a pretty typical punk rock sound. Their bass player looked like he was about 12 years old, so I thought that was pretty cool. I mean, when I was 12 I barely even knew what punk rock was. The other band was called IFS and they are from West Chester, PA. I was not actually in the room when they played, but I could hear them from were I was. They started out their set by rapping, then the rest of their set sounded like it was also punk rock.
The Huntingtons played last and got the place rockin'. They told the crowd they could move around and all, and that's just what some kids did, while others just tried to be tough guys, hassling the Huntingtons to play Ramones songs. This was the band's first show with their new drummer. His Huntingtons name is now officially Danny Huntington, and he is from Erie, PA. He did a great job considering this was only his fourth time playing with the band. They had practiced three times before this show with him. Danny played so hard that his hand was bleeding. This is no lie, as a big chunk of skin was hanging off his finger at the end of the show.
The band played songs both old and new, and as usual they were full of energy. They really have their live set down. These guys are the Backstreet Boys of punk rock. Their rock and roll moves seem to be almost coreographed at times. Maybe the Backstreet Boys comparison is a little off, but at any rate they definetly put on an entertaining and energetic set. The sound in the building was not the best, but after all it was just a church fellowship hall with a high ceiling, concrete walls and a wooden floor, so under the circumstances, the sound actually was not all that bad. I really enjoyed the song line-up they picked for this set which, like I said before, consisted of both new and old songs, and no Ramones covers.
I also spent some time just chatting with the Huntingtons and here is the latest news. First off, they have another new CD coming out on January 30 on Tooth and Nail Records, which will be titled "Plastic Surgery." Then a week later on February 8, they have a split CD with Darlington coming out on Melted Records. This CD will only be released to the "secular" market. The CD will be called "Huntingtons/Darlington Split Down the Middle" and will feature eight songs from each band. The bands are also going to cover one of each other's songs. The Huntingtons will cover the Darlington tune "Judy Jetson," which I have to say is one of my favorite Darlington songs. Good choice, guys. Cliffy says this is their best stuff that they have recorded yet, and the band is very excited about this release. Cliffy also said that both bands' songs are more on the poppy side of things. In support of this release, the Huntingtons are going to be on the road with Darlington in February and March of 2000. There is also the posibility of a European tour, but this is just in the beginning stages and nothing is official.
In other news, which was taken directly from the Huntingtons message board as posted by Cliffy, "C. J. Huntington is also going to be leaving the band. C. J. has, thus far, been in the band longer then any other non-original Huntington (about 14 months). C. J. decided that Ramones style music isn't fully his bag and is going to put together a sort of New York Dolls, Iggy Pop, Dead Boys type of thing." C.J. is going to be replaced by J.J. Huntington, who is from Philadelphia, PA. So that's the latest from the Huntingtons, definitely one of the busiest bands in punk rock.
If you're from the Glenmoore area, Fairview Presbyterian Church is going to be having another show on Saturday, November 20, I believe. Their concert series is called Saturday Night Alive. This time around it's going to be ska night!!!
-Tom Bastian